UCOR and Roane State representatives celebrate the $50,000 donation that will be used for a new apprenticeship effort and to purchase equipment for the college’s chemical engineering technology laboratory. From left are UCOR Administrative Services Manager Charles Malarkey; Roane State Community College Chemical Engineering Technology Program Director Laura A. Hofman; Dan Hyder, Roane State Community College Interim Dean for Social Science, Business and Education Director, Environmental Health Technology Program; and Roane State Community College President Chris Whaley.
April 7, 2021
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
UCOR has boosted its partnership with Roane State with a record $50,000 donation evenly divided between two of the community college’s programs – Environmental Health Technology and the Chemical Engineering Technology Apprenticeship.
UCOR, an Amentum-led partnership with Jacobs, is a U.S. Department of Energy contractor involved in the environmental cleanup of former nuclear facilities. On DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation, it’s working at the former K-25 Site, the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The latest contribution will continue the apprenticeship program for second-year Roane State students in chemical engineering technology. In the past two years, UCOR has provided apprenticeships to eight students, with those successfully completing the internships offered jobs with the contractor.
“It’s been really successful,” said Charles Malarkey, UCOR administrative services manager. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the quality of the students. Our partnership with Roane State has been excellent.”
The donation also funds new equipment for the chemical engineering technology lab.
Buoyed by the success of that collaboration, UCOR officials decided to expand the partnership with Roane State to include the environmental health technology (EHT) program.
“This partnership will benefit students in so many ways,” said Dan Hyder, the EHT program director. “Most of the donation will be used to set up scholarships for our students. And they are going to allow our students to train on equipment used in the field under the guidance of their professional staff.”
The collaboration “supports UCOR’s strategy to help build a highly skilled workforce for today and tomorrow,” according to the contractor. To learn more about these and other programs offered at Roane State, visit roanestate.edu/academicprograms.
The contributions are managed and dispersed by the nonprofit Roane State Foundation. The Roane State Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) corporation governed by an independent board of directors and established to provide financial support for Roane State students and programs. The Foundation seeks to enhance community awareness of the college, to secure private contributions and bequests and to manage monies or properties given to the Foundation. For more information, visit roanestate.edu/foundation or email Foundationdept@roanestate.edu.
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